Meaningful Mud's Monthly Mu - June 2025
"come with me, together we can take the long way home"
Hey there,
And welcome to Meaningful Mud’s Monthly Mu June edition.
Of the many rabbit holes that swallow me whole for hours on end, episodes and audition compilations of The Voice have a commanding hold on me that I can’t seem to shake. From the Best Four-Chair Turns to The Most Iconic Blind Auditions to Mind-Blowing Standing Ovations, many a joyous hour has been spent engrossed and absorbed and many a promise to myself broken that I’ll be in bed asleep in the next 30 minutes.
This past month, whilst visiting home, albeit only long enough to finish one oat milk, spend two Shabbats in intimate proximity to both hugs and herring, and not undergo a single linen change (calm down those doing hygiene calculations - I arrived on a Friday), I was reawakened as to why these videos have quietly claimed a generous portion of my screen time, which my phone patronizingly and judgmentally notifies me of each week (please everyone share their screen time in the comments section below - jokes jokes).
When watching these videos, what occasions my teary eyes, racing heart and snotty sniffling is the reactions of the friends and family accompanying the contestants - the fervent hoping and pleading prayers; the sweaty palms pressed to mouths and clutched and clasped hands; the energized explosions of elation as a judge hits the button and the chair spins around - the screams of joy, unrestrained jumping in gleeful abandon and collective collapses in and of relief; the palpable pride and overwhelming love.
Yes - "there are years that ask questions and years that answer" and whilst for the most part I am dancing in the dark stumbling my way through this human project, when watching these videos, for a fleeting unobstructed moment, a smidgeon of lucidity rises to the surface and finds its way to me:
That damn - to have people in your corner is heart-fortifying and far surpasses any four chair turn.
That this human journey is about the fusion of hearts - ‘sure connections’ as my brother calls them - those whose beings echo your joy and ache with your sorrow and sadness; those you message when the plane touches down, letting them know you have arrived safely, as my mom often says.
That our true humanity is rooted in something beyond ourselves.
That true love is sacrifice and often not gripping or glittering but unglamorous acts of daily devotion.
That to let love arise from only the obvious diminishes the depth of our bond with the world and cheapens our cosmic connections.
And that damn - life is far too short and fragile to leave unsaid what we leave unsaid.
So, fellow earthlings, in this month ahead, my hope and wish is that we continue to live vividly and vivaciously, love boldly and bravely, show up with presence and patience and earnestly try to cultivate rich reciprocal and relational ways of being in the world.
Thank you all once again for your being here.
Take good care out there and inside.
And lastly, may we always be stuck in Meaningful Mud!
Tyler
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
―George Augustus Moore, The Brook Kerith
Not Dark Yet
By Leonard Cohen
This is the only poem
I can read
I am the only one
can write it
I didn’t kill myself
when things went wrong
I didn’t turn
to drugs or teaching
I tried to sleep
but when I couldn’t sleep
I learned to write
I learned to write
what might be read
on nights like this
by one like me.
The menu ain’t the meal but give it a bash anyway
Sharing with you all a recipe for a refreshing and super simple summery Persian cucumber salad.
What you’ll need
For the salad:
6 Persian cucumbers (please check their passports to see they are not English)
1, 2 or 3 avocados
3 stems of spring onion (scallions in the West)
Fresh dill and fresh mint
Handful of walnuts and pistachios
Sumac
For the vinaigrette:
1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Instructions
For the salad:
Thinly slice your cucumbers and add to a salad bowl.
Cube an avocado and add it to your bowl. The more added avocado the merrier.
Thinly slice your spring onion/scallions (both the white and the green) and add to your bowl.
Finely chop a handful of fresh dill and fresh mint so you have a 1/3 cup full of each and, as you guessed, add it to your bowl.
Throw in a handful of walnuts and pistachios (recommended to lightly toast your nuts if you have the strength).
Shake in generous splashes of sumac.
For the vinaigrette:
Zest your full lemon and add it to a bowl together with the juice of 1/2 your lemon.
Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of pinches of salt and pepper.
Whisk together and dress your salad.
For consumption:
Feel free to add ripped blocks of fresh feta cheese.
Thank your divine and enjoy.
“Ninety-nine percent of the world's lovers are not with their first choice. That's what makes the jukebox play.”
Willie Nelson
Sonic Suggestions
I have no clue what is being sung but it is very pretty.
I hope you enjoy the tunes.
“Oh, love isn't there to make us happy. I believe it exists to show us how much we can endure.”
―Hermann Hesse, Wer lieben kann, ist glücklich. Über die Liebe
Thank you once again for stopping on by. It is not taken for granted!
Please also consider forwarding this little offering to a loved one, friend or stranger and feel free to reach out should you wish to share any comments, critiques or suggestions. I would love to hear from you all.
Wishing you all a juicy June!
